Brothers In Arms

Recently Will Ferrell and Jimmy Fallon reminisced about, and played a clip of, the old days where they both were actors on the Canadian soap opera "Jacob's Patience".

Jimmy doesn't even keep a straight face during the setup to the skit.

Oddly, I was recently watching a "Thunderbirds" movie and thinking how strange it was and thinking it was just plain creepy and stupid. This reminds me of that whole "marionette acting" a bit.

Mitchell, Webb, Donald Kaufman?

Thanks to the powers of Netflix, I've recently been going through the British sketch comedy show "That Mitchell and Webb Look". It's actually pretty funny and I'm surprised I'm only now learning about it since it started in 2006 and I've known about David Mitchell ever since he was a panelist on the fantastic quiz show "QI".

I might post a few clips on this blog in future (because, frankly, who's gonna stop me) but I had to at least post this one. If "Synecdoche, New York" were a comedy sketch it would be this. And anything with that description is worth watching.

That Mitchell and Webb Look - The Chiropractor

Guitar Hero 5 : Through the Looking Glass

A quick shoparound for "Guitar Hero 5" reveals that there is a glitch in the matrix large enough to drive a truck through - something that challenges all rules of logic which lie at the foundation of all civilized thought.

If you take out your Analytical Engine, lubricate the gears sufficiently, build up the proper steam and point it to www.bestbuy.com you will find that the game "Guitar Hero 5"(brand new, never used) is selling for $19.99. This is, in itself, not cause for alarm. However, the very same game used, is selling for $29.99. That's right - the game is worth more used than new.

What does it mean? If a game is worth more money used than new, that means that the moment you buy it it instantly increases in value by $10 (a 50% profit). Presumably, the term "used" implies that you have to take the game out and play it or it's not as valuable. Therefore if you wanted to play video games for a living all you need to do is buy as many copies of "Guitar Hero 5" as you can, play them each one by one and sell each copy for $10 more than you originally paid. It's a tough job but you really get a great sense of accomplishment at the end of the day.

If you buy "Guitar Hero 5" and are unhappy with it, and you wish to return it, what happens? They'll offer to give you your money back but that's a ripoff, they're trying to buy back the game for $10 less than it's worth. "Hey man," - you'll say to the Best Buy employee - "don't act like this thing isn't worth more money, this game is used. You owe me my original twenty bucks for the game plus 10 bucks for improving the game to a 'pre-owned' state."

And just in case you thought that we hadn't gone through the looking glass, that the Earth is still rotating on its axis, that pi is actually a constant and that this whole thing is just a big misunderstanding - that the old man Best Buy had made a mistake typing numbers into his abacus and that the fabric of our universe isn't pulling at the seams... Here's the Amazon.com listing:

[Click the picture for larger version]

Still not huddled naked in the basement? YOU THINK THIS IS A GAME?! Yeah, well, yeah, I mean, technically it is a game but how does this taste on your Cocoa Puffs... here's the same game on GameStop:

God help us all.

An Idiot Abroad Trailer

There's a new trailer for "An Idiot Abroad". Formerly entitled "Karl Pilkington's Seven Wonders of the World" (a superior title in my opinion), the documentary will follow global village idiot Karl Pilkington as he visits the seven wonders of the world.

I'm excited. The show will not air in the U.S. but hopefully the internet picks up the slack.

Keyboard Cat: Redux

He almost got the part of Goofy (and I think he was perfect for it) but now he's got a new role to play instead.

This is so much better than "Apocalypse Now Redux", I can't even tell you.

IMDB 250 Challenge Revision 4 Complete

As you probably know, I have a (continuing) mission to watch every movie on the IMDB Top 250. As ratings fluctuate and more movies are released, movies slip out of the 250 and others take their place so I have to continuously revise my list and watch the new ones to keep up. I finished the fourth revision earlier today, finally watching the movie "My Neighbor Totoro". Here are the latest movies and a few thoughts.

Avatar (2009)

My Rating: 7/10.

Obviously, one of the new movies on the IMDB 250 has to be Avatar. A sci-fi action flick in 3D, it doesn't really need any explanation or any more hype from me. There are few movies out there as polarizing as this one. I've heard that it's the best movie of all-time and I've heard that it's garbage. Straight away, it's certainly not the best movie of all-time. At best it's a lesser retelling of "Dances With Wolves" which IS great and IS amazing and IS one of the greatest movies ever made and yet is sadly not on the current IMDB 250 list). But I also don't want to go too far in the "don't believe the hype" vein to say that it "sucks". I maintain, at least for now, that it is an entertaining movie, that is fairly well-done and kept my interest. So, I have to give it a 7/10 though bordering on a 6 and at the same time, I don't understand what all the "best movie ever" hype was about at all other than mass temporary insanity.

I wonder if it was the 3D experience that did it. Does the sensory experience of amazing 3D imagery elevate it into a "higher" experience? Should that be considered against the usual criteria of emotion, plot, acting, directing, score, etc.? For my purposes, I'm leaving it out and judging it by its 2D aspects. For that, its current position of #109 all-time is a sad joke.

Zombieland (2009)

My Rating: 6/10.

I don't remember much about this movie. I could sum up my review of it in three words: it was alright. Attempting to blend comedy with action/horror and taking advantage of the "zombie craze", it occasionally succeeds. But it's not a terrific success and you'd be better off rewatching "Ghostbusters" or "The 'burbs" (a severely underrated movie). The special surprise cameo (which I won't spoil) was completely wasted, I thought. This movie since being on the list of 250, has slipped out of it which I think is absolutely correct.

Unadjusted for inflation, this is the highest-grossing movie in the US to begin with the letter "Z".

My Neighbor Totoro (1988)

My Rating: 5/10.

Another anime movie and it seems all anime movies on the list have the same elements in common: they all are beautifully animated and feature hyper-surreal, hyper-imaginative visuals. As best as I can recall, they're all "family" movies as well. This movie is no exception. With their mother in sick in the hospital, two sisters and their dad move into a new house that's said to be haunted by forest spirits. With their father's encouragement, the two sisters soon find the tales to be true,

There's nothing wrong with this movie, it's fine as far as movies for kids go but there's also nothing that stood out for me either. The visuals are very nice and maybe if I was watching it as a kid I would feel differently but as it is, I didn't really like or dislike it. Therefore a 5/10.

Blood Diamond (2006)

My Rating: 7/10.

Probably the best movie on this short, arbitrary list, "Blood Diamond" tells the story of a group of people caught in the blood diamond trade (diamonds from Africa whose profits are used to fund civil war). Leonardo DiCaprio is suprisingly good and Jennifer Connelly doesn't hurt the movie either. The strongest performance is Djimon Hounsou who probably should have been Oscar-nominated. This movie is well-written, well-directed, and well-acted. It's very good but a bit too long and ventures too far out into the "action movie" territory to rise to the level of being great. My 7/10 rating borders on an 8.

Movies This Revision: 4.

Average Score: 5.75.

Best Movie This Revision: "Blood Diamond".

Total "Top 250" Movies Seen: 333.